Portable locomotive-tender spring-jack.



No 688,824. Patented Dec; 17, I90].

L. W. CHASE.

PORTABLE LOCOMOTIVE TENDER SPRING JACK.

(Applicatioh filed Apr. 8. 1901.1

(No Model.)

Elf/Q7 ii m A1,; g1,

,- ROCKER POCKET 8 1 MqvWma/m Eficmo, I

mi:- NORRIS PETERS co; PHUT6-LITHO, wasmumnn. a c.

- UNITED STATES LLEWELLYN WILLIAM CHASE, OF WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

PORTABLE LOCOMOTlVE- -TENDER SPRING-MACK.

SPECIFICATION forrrfing-part of Letters Patent No. 688,824, dated December 17, 1901. Application filed April 8, 1901, Serial No. 54,768. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LLEWELLYN WILLIAM CHASE, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Waltham, in the county of Middlesex and State of lvlassachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Locomotive-Tender Spring- Jacks, of which the following is a specification.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a compact apparatus to rapidly, efficiently, and inexpensivelyraise and place in position the springs of a locomotive-tender or to remove them from the truck-frame in a like manner. The old or present method of performing this operation, so far as my knowledge extends, is by the employment of several persons manually and without any special form of labor-saving devices to expeditiously and effectively execute such work, which requires some hours to perform and great bodily exertion, these springs weighing several hundred pounds each and requiring, together with their attendant coacting pieces, an accurate adjustment to their positions.

With my improved apparatus one man will adjust the heaviest spring and its pieces accurately in place in a few minutes with but little expenditure of strength. To perform this labor, I proceed in the manner described and with my apparatus herewith illustrated, which I term a portable locomotive-tender spring-jack. I

Inthe drawings forminga part of this specification, Figure l exhibits my invention in perspective with the half elliptic tenderspring suspended in position to rise to its place on the truck-frame; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the head of the rectangular frame to exhibit the adjustable antifriction blocks or buffers, Fig. 3 being a plan of the carriage with its accessories below the dashed line 3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 a side elevation of one truck-frame to illustrate the position of the tender-spring, its pockets, and rockers.

Corresponding letters of reference indicate identical parts throughout the several views, referring to which A A are the uprights,of heavy joist,and B B the uniting-braces properly secured thereto to form a rectangular frame. Upon the inner faces of said uprights are the gibs or runs 0,

preferably of metal, or they may be of wood integral with the frame. Upon these slide vertically the carriage D, provided with gibways or slots E within each end thereof. To the rear of said carriage is secured by bolts the supporting frame or braces F,Which carry the antifriction-roll G,whose office is to assist the passage of the tender-spring'slidable support H, moving in the aperture I, penetrating the lower half of the carriage-body D. The upper face of said slidable support, one end of which is bifurcated, as at J, is provided with the rack J, which meshes with the coacting pinion K, mounted upon the revoluble shaft L, journaled in bearings M, bolted to the carriage, and actuated by the handwheel N, so as to adjust the support If in any desired position horizontally. Said support also maintains the frame in standing position when the apparatus is not in use. Adjacent to the head of the frame is secured the bearings O O, which support the horizon tal drum-shaft P, the center of which may support or serve as a drum Q, upon which is wound the chain or cord R, which raises or lowers the carriage D between the uprights A A. Upon one end of said shaft is fixed the holding-ratchet S, the pawl T, pivoted to the frame A, securing the rotation of said shaft and drum, and upon the other end is secured .the small sprocket U, over which runs the sprocket-chain V, connecting with the larger sprocket W, which is firmly attached to the outer face of one'of the uprights A in a revoluble manner. Secured to or an integral part of said sprocket is the ratchet-wheel X, with its attendant pawl Y, pivoted to the operating lever Z, the head of said lever being also rotatingly secured upon the axis Z, having a motion independently of the combined sprocket and ratchet W X and by which the shaft P is revolved in connection with the chain V and sprocket U, previously described, to actuate the carriage.

The rear faces of the uprights A A, Fig. 2, near their upper ends are provided with a lengthwise mortise (if, each covered by a plate having a slot 1) slightly smaller than said mortise. These plates retain the studs 6 e movably within said mortise, said studs carrying the adjustable block, which may be padded to prevent defacement of the parts against which rests the apparatus when loaded and in use.

c designates the clip which sustains the lever Z when not in use.

The practical operation of my improved invention is as follows: Assuming the apparatus to be in the position illustrated in Fig. 1, with the body of the tender raised up sufficiently to allow free access to the tendersprings, the truck-frame being in a central position behind the apparatus with the buffers a a resting against the side of the tender, the sliding bar H is moved forward through its rack J by the pinion K until the forked end embraces the band of the spring d, which is obviously equipoised. The lever Z,with its pawl Y, is now raised and engages with the ratchet X. Depressing said lever rot-ates the sprocket W and the chain-connected sprocket U and its shaft and drum Q. Tension upon the chain R raises the carriage and its burden to the desired height, the ratchet and pawl S T suspending the carriage while allowing the operator to adjust the pocket and rocker pieces in the truck-frame seating the ends of the spring. The shaft L is now revolved, forcing the sliding support or bar over the truckframe until the spring is in proper alinement, when the pawl T is raised and the carriage D lowered until the spring finds its seat and is released from the support H, which is withdrawn to its original position and the carriage again lowered. This completes the operation. I

It is apparent that other devices not herein illustrated may be employed to rotate the gears and chainsuch as a winch, spur-gearing, or hand-wheel-and other methods will suggest themselves for moving the slidable support, the employment of which would not depreciate the essence of my invention, and while I have illustrated the preferred mechanism for use with my improved apparatus I do not wish to be confined to the strict interpretation thereof, but may use such fair equivalents therefor as will come within the scope and spirit of my invention, which, having described,

I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States and claim 1. The herein-described apparatus for placing in position the springs of a locomotivethrough the carriage and means to actuate said support either forward or backward, the drum-shaft provided with a retaining-ratchet and a sprocket and means to revolve said sprocket and drum to raise the carriage, and with it the half-elliptic spring to place the latter upon the tender-truck frame, substan tially in the manner specified.

2. The uprights A, A, having runs 0, C, and the carriage provided with the aperture 1, and with a vertical slot at each end in which said runs engage to movably sustain said carriage between said uprights, the shaft L, and means attached to the carriage to supportsaid shaft, in combination with the braces F, the antifriction-roller sustained by said braces, and the slidable support fitting in said aperture and bearing on said roller, and provided longitudinally with a rack, and a pinion on said shaft engaging said rack to operate said slid able support, substantially in the manner set forth.

3. A portable locomotive-tender springjack, comprising a carriage the slidable support in said carriage, and having a bifurcated end arranged to equipoise and sustain the half-elliptic tender-spring while being raised or lowered, and also having a longitudinal rack, the pinion engaging with said rack, to actuate said support in a horizontal direction through the carriage, the shaft supporting the pinion, means to secure the shaft to the car riage, and the hand-wheel manually adapted to rotate the said shaft and its coacting pin ion, to move the support to a predetermined position to deposit the tender-spring substantially in the manner described.

4. The combination with the carriage provided with longitudinal slots at each end thereof to receive the runs C, O, of the uprights provided with longitudinal mortises within their rear faces, the overlying plates having slots of lesser dimensions than said mortiscs, the blocks adjustable upon said plates and the studs securing said blocks within the mortiscs in a manner to form rests to prevent defacement of any surface receiving the weight of the loaded apparatus substantiall yin the manner and for the purpose specified.

Signed by me at said- Waltham this 1st day of April, 1901.

LLEWELLYN WILLIAM CHASE.

Witnesses:

ALFRED FREEMAN, FRANK P. KENNEY. 

